Lockheed Martin shifts to apps-based ground station frameworks

Lockheed Martin will integrate customized applications or apps into its ground station solutions to offer more efficiency between operators and missions, the Bethesda, MD-based company announced April 14.

“We want to shape the future of the industry,” said Vinny Sica, vice president of Space Ground Solutions for Lockheed Martin. “Transitioning to software-based mission-agnostic ground systems provides a flexible, simpler model with a lower life-cycle cost and up to 15 percent savings in service management costs.”

Satellite operator tasks include programming a satellite to orbit the earth in a desired path; receiving continuous streams of data such as imagery, signal intelligence or communications data from space; and monitoring data from ground sensors and launch activities.

Tasks traditionally contained as separate functions can be designed and managed as single apps, integrated on a common operating platform, which increases mission performance by 20 percent. This enhances situational awareness, while enabling users to manage multiple missions simultaneously.

Lockheed Martin ground station app technology couples commercial products, flexible software and open standards to provide customers solutions that are affordable, modular and extensible. Utilizing this framework allows apps to be easily customized to the mission at hand, and fluid enough to adapt to new orders.

Upgrading ground stations to serve the 21^st Century is imperative as the complexity of space platforms and missions increases. Implementing software-based solutions on modern ground infrastructure provides the opportunity for up to a 75 percent reduction in operational hardware costs, offering a streamlined approach to managing future space exploration.

Source: Lockheed Martin